Saturday, November 13, 2004

Saturday arrived cool, overcast and breezy with temps in the lower 50's
The site of the 9th, a land quad with two shot flyers, was back at the
Redbird Ranch area. By dawn, gunners were in the pasture. The line was
up on a mound overlooking a pasture. To the left a set of gunners threw a
dead rooster angled back to the left . It fell about 115 yards from
line. To the right a second set was closer in and threw a dead hen
pheasant angled back to the right.. Deep of them and to the right a set
of live guns shot a flying rooster, well ridden out to the right. It
landed roughly 160 yards away. To the near right, at about a 90 degree
angle to the other marks an second set of live guns shot a flying hen
pheasant to the left. It landed near or behind a low mount of grass, 60+
yards out. The marks were thrown around the horn from left to right. As
the dog was sent for the short flyer, the left and left middle guns
retired to a blind near a tree between them. It took about 10 mpd to
complete.

The first test dog appeared on line at 7:13 and handled on the left ret. mark. The second did it, but hunted on some.

At 7:46, the first running dog, #19 appeared on line.

The two shot flyers excited the dog and varied falls caused hunting.
After the shot flyer, early handlers tried different ways of picking up
the remainder. The most successful method appeared to be - pick up both
flyers, then the two retired birds in either order. However, some dogs
would over shoot the shorter birds and continue on to the longer one or
long flyer (if they hadn't picked it up second. In all, 4 of the 13 dogs
handled

By 10:20 the 9th was complete and callbacks announced. Only one dog, #19 was lost. 12 remained.

The 10th was a rumored to be a set of water marks a short distance away at the site of the #3 test water blind.

Test 10 - Water Quad with two shot flyers

The tenth was set up a bit farther down the road- it was a water quad
with two shot flyers. The line faced a stick pond with islands, points
and some running water. The near shore sloped down to the water area and
was comprised of irregular spoils covered with grass. Beyond, the
ridges, the land fell down to the pond. Across the pond, peninsulas
protruded from the far shore and the pasture land rose gently upward.
Three sets of guns were on the far shore. One was on the right and shot a
flying mallard to the left. It was well ridden out and fell in the
grass 80+ yards from line. Deeper and to the left, another pair threw a
dead mallard angled back to the left. It landed in the pasture about 170
yards away. The third was farther to the right, but closer in, on the
far shore. They also threw a dead mallard to the left. It landed on the
tip of a point about 130+ yards away. The fourth set were locate to the
left of the line on the near shore. They shot a flying rooster to the
right. only about 40 yards out. The order was: Long, right middle, short
left middle, right flyer, left flyer. As the dog was sent for the left
flyer, the two middle dead bird gunners retired.

The first test dog arrived on line at 11:12 a.m.: the second at 11:28. The first running dog, #66 stepped to line at .noon
It took nearly 20 minutes to complete.

The excitement of two flyers combined with a large expanse of rough
terrain, stick pond and heavy cattails would deflect dogs fro their
line. They could lose their mark and arrive in "No mans land" across the
pond. It was very demanding and 4 of the 12 handled on it. Several dogs
turned in good work, and two seemed to be quite clean throughout the
trial.

At 3:18, the last dog #65 returned to line and the 2004 National was "in the book".

All gathered in the farm barn for the awards.. The finalists were
introduced, all thanked and the winner FC AFC Dewey's Drake of Moon
River was declared the 2004 National Champion.